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Izuku was starting to regret going on a stress walk in the dead of the night.
When he'd crawled out of bed and walked out the front door to clear his mind, he had been sure he'd remember the way around town, and he had been confident about knowing how to get home from wherever he was, in the event that he felt unsafe.
He had not, however, prepared for the possibility that the streets would look so very different at night compared to during the daytime.
And now, he was very much indisputably lost.
Mom's going to be so mad when she finds out, he thought. I really shouldn't even be out here, and now I've gotten myself into this situation. Ugh.
But he had more important things to deal with than his mother's worry and wrath, such as: how in the world was he going to get home?
He had no phone, no car (who was he kidding, he was twelve years old), no ID, and only a few measly coins in his sweatpants' pocket that had somehow survived the washing machine and dryer.
Unfortunately for him, the hooded man currently trying to mug Izuku was unaware of these facts.
The man had approached too quietly and too quickly for Izuku to run, catching him completely off guard. It was all he could do to scream at the top of his lungs, hoping, praying somebody would hear him.
"Gimme your money," the man growled, hot and foul breath too close to Izuku's face.
"I- I don't have any!" he managed to stammer out, still struggling as hard as he could.
"Yeah, right," was the response he received. "Try again. And don't you dare lie to me this time." The man gave him a harsh shake for emphasis.
Izuku shrieked and shook his head frantically. "I promise I'm- I'm really telling the truth!" he gasped out. "I'm not lying, I'm not!"
"You don't want me to have to use my quirk on you, now, do you?"
But that was all that was said before a new voice caught the attention of both of them. "How about I use my quirk on you?"
Izuku turned to look at the newcomer, whose face was almost entirely hidden except for his mouth and jaw, which were set aglow by the handful of flickering flames he held up.
His captor dropped Izuku with a squeak. "Come on, now, I-"
The stranger hefted his flames higher, and Izuku watched as the color shifted from fiery red to piercing white-hot. "Scram."
It didn't need to be said twice before the other man was gone.
Now the newcomer turned his attention to Izuku, stuffing his hand into his pocket as the flames extinguished. "The heck are you doing out here at 1 a.m., kid?"
"I… wanted to take a walk… needed some fresh air…" Izuku mumbled. "Couldn't sleep…"
"Don't you know it's dangerous?" the man demanded. "You could've gotten killed, if I hadn't heard the ruckus you were making. Even now, I could kill you, too."
Izuku's eyes widened.
"I'll spare you this time, brat. But not next time. There are plenty of bad people around here, people who wouldn't think twice about taking advantage of a kid like you. I'm not a particularly good person, either- don't think I'm some kind of savior."
Izuku nodded vigorously. "Understood, yes, sir!"
"Now, you scram too. Go straight home, all right?"
Izuku could understand a dismissal when he heard one, but there was one problem. "Uh- I don't know how to get home…?"
The man sighed. "Of course you don't. Idiot. I'll take you somewhere you can find your way back, and then I don't want to deal with you anymore, got it?"
Izuku nodded again. "Thank you," he answered in relief.
And so they walked together in a slightly awkward silence until they reached the street two blocks over from Izuku's neighborhood, where he cleared his throat. "Um, sir, I can find my way back now," he said softly.
"Okay. And, you hear me, I don't want to see someone like you around here again. It's not safe."
"Thank you," Izuku told him again. "I really appreciate it. And- and even if you're not a good person, you still saved my life, and I'll always remember that. So that has to count for something. Thank you."
The stranger acknowledged his words with a curt nod. "Go home now."
Izuku did as told, speedwalking the rest of the way home, climbing into bed, tucking himself tightly under the covers and falling asleep once his heart had stopped pounding in his chest.
Half a mile away, Todoroki Touya, better known to his acquaintances these days as Dabi, sighed.
Still playing at being a hero, even now, huh.
But he couldn't shake the image of the kid looking at him like that, telling him that he was a good person. He knew it wasn't true, not by any means, not anymore-
But if he was able to protect one kid, and perhaps more, from the fate he'd seen so many others fall to, maybe he wasn't half bad after all.